London-based DJ and producer Hugh Pescod, known under his aliases CLIPZ and Redlight, ended 2023 on a high note, headlining festivals across Europe and the UK and gaining significant radio support for a handful of hottest records. But if it’s up to him, 2024 will be just as eventful and rewarding. His first highlight? His latest single, “The Touch”, featuring East London’s pop revivalist Rose Gray, as he continues to tease a forthcoming wider project, celebrating his return to his jungle roots.

“A highlight for me is always playing carnival and making music for carnival – that’s brilliant,” he shares, reflecting on the last chapter. “We put ‘I Like’ out around carnival time, which featured KAM-BU, Lady Ice, and Tia Carys, so that was really nice getting them on stage and having that moment. Big ups to Shy Fx and Sir Lloyd every time. “And doing a track with Deyaz and Rudimental was fun also, keeping it moving really,” he adds, pointing out his feature with London’s Nia Archives as a big moment as well. “Producing that for Nia and then playing her show at Warehouse Project b2b with Paul Woolford was also brilliant; I really enjoyed that. That was a good way to end the year.”

Here, we caught up with CLIPZ to discuss all things creative upbringing, the powerful duality of embracing both his musical projects, and what fans can expect next on his journey. Keep scrolling…

Talk us through your early days in the music industry? How does it feel reflecting back?
I’d say 18-28 was a big struggle with money and finding your feet as a human, growing into your own skin. I was lucky, I did have an early solid career as CLIPZ. I went round the world, went to Japan a lot. Worked with Full Cycle, Roni, Krust in that era and got to know everyone. I really enjoyed being a part of the scene then, solidifying a sound and being a part of British culture.

Then I did Redlight, made a bit of money, had a bit of commercial success. It was important to me in my life at that point to put some money on the table. Also, I helped create what some people called UK bass, another genre from the uk. Looking back now, that was really important but at the time we didn’t really know what we were doing. It was an amalgamation of a lot of sounds.

I feel like my 20s was like college, going to a university for music, and my 30s was like graduating from music college and all of a sudden I knew what to do and how to do it. And now, it’s very fluid. I just create, I don’t really have to think at all.

It’s like, now I’m on the motorway. Before I was on the A Road or B Road, I was stuck at a traffic light. Crashing my car, having to buy a new car, paying loads for insurance. Getting an MOT. Now I’m on the motorway, and I’m going to my destination with a full tank of fuel and I’m not thinking and I’ve got the radio on.

How have you witnessed a change in the way people react and respond to electronic music through your tenure?
That’s an interesting question. I’d say there are two different cycles, pre-smartphone and post-smartphone. Pre smartphone, in the early days, people would have to go to the rave to hear the music. Or on pirate radio. Back then, you had to go to the rave. And people would be so excited to hear the music at the rave, “Oh god it’s that tune!” It would be a big reaction.

There would be some tunes that you’d make and you would know they’re great but it would take a year to embed in. So you’d make a tune, you’d be playing, playing, playing it. It would start with people not dancing at all, and then a year later people would be going mad for it and it would be the biggest tune in the dance. It would usually take a year for a tune to embed in popular culture, within music. Kind of like a meme. Everything’s a meme now, isn’t it? I look at everything as a meme. A tune is like a meme! Like, “Oh my god has it caught the algorithm?” Not even just on the phone, in real life. A catchy tune is just brain-worming.

Now I feel like music can just blow up within a day. The other day I made that University Challenge sample and it went mad. 70,000 views in 24 hours. You couldn’t do that before. There’s tools now so that if you want to catch it with popular culture, you add what you do to popular culture and it can blow up real quick. But it doesn’t mean it’s good music.

I’d rather the long route! Music can be exposed a lot quicker than it used to, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the music is better. You can go to Mcdonalds and eat fries and a burger but it’s not going to give you nutrition. Or, you can wait for a roast chicken to come out of the oven for an hour and a half and you’re going to be full up. So for me, the long route is more nutritious. But everyone loves a big Mac and fries as well, right?

How would you describe your production style?
Eclectic. I’m ego-less really now. The older I get, the less ego I’ve got with music.

Look at certain people who paint from back in the day. I went to a Picasso exhibition a while ago and he had put the date next to all of his paintings. It said “June the 1st, 1952”, “June the second, 1952” and so on and I thought, “My man is just knocking these out!” He’s not thinking, “Oh this is going to be the next masterpiece.” That’s how I look at music – I’m not thinking, “Oh this tune is going to be the next masterpiece.” I’m thinking “That’s a little flavour here, there’s a little flavour here” and just try to get them finished and keep it moving.

I like collecting music. I want to feel the music and make the music. I’m not thinking “This is the masterpiece”. You can do that! You can see it as a vehicle because creativity can be a vehicle. You can think, “Right I’m going to hone in on this one and it’s going to be a vehicle for the next ten years of my life.” I’ve been lucky enough to do that as well. Some of my tunes have become iconic, have crossed over, and have been a vehicle for my life. They’ve helped me make money and they’ve given me notoriety so I can go and get shows. But you don’t have to do them all the time. Like Picasso, I’m sure he had his vehicles, as did any of the greats. I’m not saying I’m a great, I’m saying that any artist needs a vehicle, not necessarily a big one.

So you can get a vehicle, you can find success, but at the end of the day you just want to fill the field with seeds and watch them grow into their own flowers. I just like making. Whatever it is. The beauty of having Redlight and CLIPZ now is that I’m a lot freer to do that. I can go right, I want to make a tear out jungle tune. CLIPZ. I want to make an organ house tune. Redlight. I’m very lucky because I’ve solidified two different aliases that can both generate the income and have listenership. I am lucky but I’ve also spent 20 years doing that to get to this point.

I fell into a trap 14 years ago where I thought, “Right, I’ve got to make another top 5 hit”, “I’ve got to make another no.1”. And before you know it, you’re making music that you’re not really that passionate about. It’s sort of a product, and it needs to be of a really high standard. And that’s not fun, that’s a job. Now, 14 years later, the music industry has changed to fit us. We can make all the music we make and it can go Top 5. But back then, you couldn’t really do that. You still had to fit a square into a circle. Now, everything can be a Top 5 record.

How do you stay relevant as a producer over a prolonged period of time?
Just create. Don’t try to remain relevant. Have passion for what’s out there. Leave your ego behind. Don’t hold onto something that’s already happened and think it will come back around or think that it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Creativity is about evolution.

Again, look at painters. Look at Matisse. I wasn’t into his original art but then he did The Cut-Outs, and he found a whole new generation of people who looked at him differently and loved his art. And it’s still some of the best modern art ever. It’s about being brave, looking towards the future. Learning what you’ve learnt already, using your skillset to create something new.

A carpenter knows how to cut the angles of the wood but he doesn’t go back into the workshop every day and make a bookshelf. He may build a kitchen, he may make a rocking horse, a french wood door. As long as you know how to make the framework and take the measurements, you can do anything! It’s like a tailor. A tailor doesn’t just make trousers. They don’t just use the same colour. Even if they did just make trousers every day they wouldn’t make black trousers for the rest of their life.

I think you’ve got to have passion for life. Anyone’s creative, aren’t they? Art is everywhere, art is everything. Even if you’re a fridge designer: “Look at the way I’ve changed that door.” That’s artistic, right? And practical. Making music is practical, too. I want to listen to some Drum & Bass, so I make some and add my spice on top. I want to listen to some house, I make some house and I add my spice on top.

What made you return to the artistic roots of Jungle and readopt the name Clipz?
Someone said to me, “You should make some jungle tunes” and I was like “Yeah?”. And then I just secretly went into the studio and starting rolling some out and just really enjoyed it. How I always used to do CLIPZ and Redlight was play my own music for 70/80% of the DJ set. So I thought, right I’m going to sit here for a year and just make the music I loved to listen to growing up. I want to make the music I love. Not the music that sold, because I think when I was in my mid to late twenties I was on the circuit so much and there was a certain sound that was working for me. So all of a sudden I found myself just making one kind of sound. And that wasn’t necessarily the sound that I loved growing up and the sound, music, and culture I fell in love with. So this time round I thought “just always make sure you keep it vibrant and make sure you love it.” And that’s what I’ve been doing, really.

You’ve worked with a wide array of impressive artists – who has stood out to you?
There’s just so many different people and I think sometimes you don’t really notice until after you’ve worked with them. When you’re in the studio it can just be stressful but you’re also concentrating so hard to catch the fish. Especially with vocalists. You’re putting the rod in the water and waiting for a bite. Will they want to write on the beat? Will we get a good 16? Etc. You’re so busy fishing that you’re not really looking at your surroundings, hearing the birds in the trees. So sometimes it’s not until after you’ve worked with a person and listened to the lyrics and the tunes bedded in that you realise, “Yeah, that was special”.

I started working with Nia before she blew up. She came to my studio when she’d just moved to London and we clicked straight away and I thought “Yeah, this kid is the future of jungle, man” I just knew it. Just from talking to her, I could see that passion in her eyes and the way she talked about it was the same passion I had when I was a kid. And that’s rare. Because I’m very passionate about jungle. And I felt it. I felt it in her soul. And I thought “I’m backing this kid to the hilt.” To see where she’s gone, I’m sure she instils that confidence into everyone who’s a junglist. Everyone who grew up with that music, they see her, they hear her and they think “Yeah, you’re one of us”.

This year there are so many incredible new kids floating around. Every week there’s a new young talent between 16-25 years old in my studio with new confidence, a new way of looking at the world. I just find it refreshing. Leaving your ego at the door. Having 20 years in the game, you could let people come into your studio and think “Oh, you have no idea what you’re talking about”. But that’s not what collaboration is. I’ve got a saying, “The youth are the teachers.” You can learn so much from the young. Their experience is so different from yours. It’s like putting fresh energy into the world, putting your phone on charge. You’re getting a new perspective, someone else’s perspective. And it comes through in the music.

I’ve collaborated with so many people over the last 3 years, from Chris Down to Nia to Slew to KJ, Ms Dynamite to KAM-BU and Lady Ice to Deyaz and Obi Franky. I’ve got a tune that’s about to come out with Rose Gray. I was in a session with this girl called KJ the other day and a really good rapper called Strand. The list is endless. There’s constantly incredible people floating about and it’s just nice to be a part of that.

We’re all just passengers, at the end of the day. It doesn’t matter who you are. We’re all here for a short amount of time, it doesn’t matter if you’re lucky enough to be successful or you’ve done something incredible. You can learn from everyone. If I’m sat round the table with someone who’s 55 and had an incredible career, I’m asking them questions because I’m so interested. I want to know how they did this, how they did that because their perspective is incredible. And if I’m sat at the table with a 23 year old who’s just discovered something new, I want to know why they love it, how they discovered it. Because I think they’re both as important.

Who’s on your collaboration bucket list?
I don’t really have one. I’ve never had a collaboration bucket list. It just happens, you just don’t know. When I worked with Mobb Deep, I never thought “I’m going to work with Prodigy from Mobb Deep (R.I.P)” , music I listened to religiously growing up. It wasn’t even on my radar, I just happened to be in New York one time and they were both in the studio. Or Ms Dynamite. I never think “Oh, I’m going to work with this person” ever. Someone rings me for a session, I go. Could be with the newest kid, could be with the kid around the corner who’s never been in the studio before and you make the best tune. Generally, if you’re working with bigger artists there’s more pressure on everyone in the room to create something incredible. I just don’t like all that. Let’s just go fishing and see what we catch.

Your new track with Rose Gray, The Touch is a banger! How did the link come about and what was the creative process of the track?
That was the second track we made together. We made another tune that was very UK Funky actually, which was wicked. Then I got her to come back in to make a Drum & Bass track. She said she’d never done Drum & Bass before and I said “I think your voice would be brilliant on it”. We literally just switched on the mic and wrote it bar for bar while she was on the mic. I’d already made the beat. And that was it, really. We rolled it out in a day. We shot a video for it the other day, which should be coming soon.

But yeah, super easy to work with, I really like her creative direction. She really knows what she wants, she’s great fun.

What can we expect from your forthcoming project?
More collaborations. Couple little jungle-y bits. Lots of energy. Lots of bangers, really. Fresh music that will represent this year, hopefully. The sound of 2024!

Where do you want to take your artistry? What do you want to achieve?
Creatively, I’ve got an art exhibition I want to finish. I’m making music for every canvas. So that’s something I really want to achieve this year, get that out.

I want to get this project out. I’ve got lots of Redlight tunes I want to get out. I want to do a mixtape for Redlight. I want to start DJing a bit more – I was ill a few years back so I had to take an extended break for my health. So I want to get out there and DJ more.

I want to carry on enjoying myself and working with good people. Hopefully just carry on making good music, you know?